Raising tobacco taxes prevents the youth from starting tobacco use: WHO

SEAR/PR/1575

New Delhi: Countries in WHO’s South-East Asia Region are home to 25% of the world’s smoking and 90% of the world’s smokeless tobacco users. Prevalence of tobacco use is increasing among youth. Nearly 15% of students aged 13-15 years use some form of tobacco and majority of them use smokeless tobacco product in the Region. Higher taxes on tobacco products are proven to reduce the number of tobacco users, especially the youth, resulting in lives saved and healthier communities. On World No tobacco day, WHO is urging countries to raise taxes on tobacco to decrease tobacco use especially among the youth.

In WHO’s South-East Asia Region, more than 1.3 million people die each year from tobacco-related deaths; a decrease in tobacco consumption that follows a higher tax and price will reduce future tobacco-related deaths and illnesses. “Research shows that higher taxes are especially effective in reducing tobacco use among lower-income groups and in preventing young people from starting to use tobacco” says Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh, WHO Regional Director for South-East Asia.

“A 10% price increase due to tobacco taxes would decrease tobacco consumption by up to 8% in most low- and middle-income countries. Increasing excise taxes on tobacco will increase government revenues significantly, and will allow people to increase their consumption of necessities such as food, education and health care” she added.

Under the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC), countries have set the target of reducing tobacco consumption by 30% by 2025.

“The health sector alone cannot curb this epidemic; the vector in this epidemic is the tobacco industry, which can be dealt with only by multisectoral actions” according to Dr Khetrapal Singh.

Price policies involving taxation have been a major instrument for tobacco control in many countries of the Region. Total tax share in retail price of cigarette range from 35% in Timor-Leste to 74% in Sri Lanka. Tax share in retail price of cigarettes have increased between 2009 and 2013 in countries such as Bangladesh from 67% to 71%; Maldives 30% to 49%; Nepal 25% to 35%; Sri Lanka 72% to 74%; and Thailand 64% to 70%.

The success of these policies depends also on the structure and share of various taxes in the retail price of tobacco products, which differ between countries. While some countries employ simple structures of tobacco taxation, some have very complicated structures, combining import tariff, excise (specific and/or ad valorem) tax, surcharge, local tax, and value-added tax.

In most Member States, tax policies are targeted at cigarettes; however, most economic analyses show that cigarettes have not become less affordable, and since other tobacco products are subject to lower tax rates than cigarettes they can be sold at lower prices. These structures encourage tobacco users, especially the poor, to switch from expensive to cheaper products such as hand-rolled cigarettes, bidi and smokeless tobacco making tobacco control policies less effective.

WHO is urging countries to increase taxes on all tobacco products to levels that reduce tobacco consumption. “WHO will continue to support governments in their efforts to protect present and future generations from the damaging health, social, environmental and economic consequences of tobacco use” said Dr Khetrapal Singh. The UN health agency committed to enhanced support for government initiatives in implementing the WHO FCTC.

WHO’s South-East Asia Region comprises the following 11 Member States: Bangladesh, Bhutan, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, India, Indonesia, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Timor-Leste.